The Real Cost of a Vacant Educator Position in Your Victorian Childcare Centre

Ask most Centre Directors how much a vacant educator position costs their centre, and they'll quote the equivalent of the unfilled wages. The real number is significantly higher — and understanding it changes how urgently you treat recruitment.

Here's a breakdown of what a vacant educator position actually costs a typical regional Victorian childcare centre.

LOST ENROLMENT REVENUE

When you're short an educator, you're operating below NQF-compliant ratios. This means you cap enrolments — either refusing new families or reducing existing enrolments to maintain compliance. In a centre charging $110–$130 per child per day, a single capped enrolment of five children represents $550–$650 in daily revenue.

Over a four-week vacancy period: $11,000 – $13,000 in lost revenue for just five enrolment places.

CASUAL RELIEF COSTS

To maintain minimum ratios while you recruit, you engage casual relief educators. Casual rates are typically 25% higher than permanent equivalent hourly rates, plus the agency margin if sourced through a traditional staffing agency.

Four weeks of casual relief coverage for one position: approximately $4,000 – $6,000 depending on hours and rates.

MANAGEMENT TIME

A Centre Director's time spent managing a vacancy — writing the ad, reviewing applications, conducting interviews, following up references and managing the onboarding of an unsuccessful hire before repeating the process — is typically 15–25 hours over a six-week period.

At the effective hourly cost of a Centre Director's time, this represents $900 – $2,500 in management overhead per vacancy, per cycle.

TEAM STRAIN AND SECONDARY TURNOVER

The most underestimated cost of a vacancy is the pressure it places on your existing team. Educators covering for a vacant position experience increased workload, higher stress and reduced job satisfaction. This is one of the leading causes of secondary turnover — the phenomenon where one resignation triggers another, creating a compounding vacancy problem.

Secondary turnover driven by team strain from an initial vacancy can cost two to three times the original vacancy cost to resolve.

THE TOTAL COST

A single educator vacancy lasting four to six weeks, when all costs are accounted for, typically costs a regional Victorian childcare centre between $15,000 and $25,000.

Vhire's placement fee is $8,500. It pays for itself many times over — and eliminates the compounding costs of a prolonged vacancy.

Contact Vhire at info@vhire.com.au or visit vhire.com.au/hire-staff to fill your vacancy today.